St. Joseph V25 I16

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St. Joseph Newsleader
St. Joseph, MN 56374
Permit No. 21
ECRWSS
Postal Customer
Newsleader
St. Joseph
Friday, April 18, 2014
Volume 25, Issue 16
Est. 1989
Town Crier
Burning restrictions
in effect in central Minnesota
The Minnesota Department of
Natural Resources has burning restrictions in place over the central
part of the state including Stearns County because fire danger
is expected to rapidly increase as
winds pick up and snow continues
to melt. The burning restrictions
mean the state will not give out
burning permits for burning brush
or yard waste. Spring fire restrictions limit open burning until summer green-up occurs. Traditionally,
most wildfires in Minnesota occur
during April and May. More than
95 percent of these fires are caused
by human error. The restrictions
normally last from four to six
weeks until sufficient green vegetative growth occurs. Campfires
are still allowed. For more information, visit www.thenewsleaders.com and click on Criers.
Severe Weather Awareness
Week is April 21-25
April 21-25 is Severe Weather
Awareness Week, a time to remind Minnesotans about inevitable storms, lightning, wind, floods
and tornadoes, and to provide
people with information necessary to protect their lives when
severe weather threatens. Stearns
County’s Emergency Management
Department encourages every
family and business to take the
opportunity during this week to
build awareness of storm dangers
and to put weather emergency
plans into action. Subjects for Severe Weather Awareness Week
are: Monday: Alerts and warnings;
Tuesday: Thunderstorms, Lightning and Hail; Wednesday: Floods;
Thursday, Tornadoes; and Friday:
Heat. Two statewide tornado drills
will take place on Thursday. The
first drill is at 1:45 p.m. and allows
schools and businesses to practice
their emergency plans. The second drill is at 6:55 p.m. This drill
allows families to practice their
plans at home. For more information, visit www.thenewsleaders.
com and click on Criers.
Hot off the press
If you’d like to receive the Newsleader hot off the press, send us your email
address and we’ll notify you with a link
when our website is updated, which
is typically by noon a day in advance
of the print edition. Send your email
to news@thenewsleaders.com and you
should start receiving your reminder at
that address within a week. Notify us
otherwise.
For additional criers, visit www.thenewsleaders.com and click on Criers.
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Students start new organics recycling program
by Cori Hilsgen
news@thenewsleaders.com
Students at Kennedy Community started a new organics recycling program on March
20. They are taking all organic
material and rerouting it to a
composting facility, away from
a landfill.
The program is coordinated
by science teacher Rick Wilson,
head engineer Dave Ertl and the
Youth Energy Summit students.
“I am always looking for
ways to improve and get better
in terms of personal self, curriculum and instruction, and
whole school,” Wilson said.
He has been researching organic recycling for several years.
Wilson and El Haus, the district
building and grounds supervisor, coordinated to allow Kennedy students to be the first
school to try organic recycling.
“I knew this was something
simple everyone could do and
Recycling • page 8
contributed photo
Cole Stroot (left) helps with the silverware return while Sophie Houghton (in pink) talks a
student through the process for a new organic recycling program at Kennedy. Both Stroot and
Houghton are Youth Energy Summit students.
Borgert plans for Honor Flight
by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
machines. He’d learned all those which was founded by his fa- in his basement wood shop is
skills at the Great Lakes Naval ther, Lawrence, nearly 100 years his main hobby, along with “a
Base before being assigned to ago. Gene worked there for 27 little fishing” now and then. But
It’s been
the U.S.S. Newport News.
years. Later, he sold his share of his all-time favorite hobby is his
decades
“I heard about the Honor the company to his brother, and membership in the Lions Club.
since Gene
Flight program more than a year the company still thrives after all He’s been a member of the SarBorgert vistell Lions Club for 35 years, then
ago, so I talked to a woman at those years in St. Joseph.
ited the nathe VA (Veteran’s AdministraBorgert moved to Sartell after later he joined the Sauk Rapids
tion’s capital
tion) Center about it and was ac- buying two acres of property for Riverside Lions Club about 10
in Washingcepted to go along on a flight,” just $600 north of the town on years ago. He was at one time a
ton, D.C. He
Borgert said. “Am I exited about the County Road 1 river-road. district governor for Lions Club
was
there
the trip? You better believe it!”
He and his wife, Lynn, have International.
quite a few
“In 47 years as a Lion, I
Born in St. Cloud, for many lived there every since.
Borgert
times when
years Borgert was one of the
Borgert has several retirement haven’t missed a single meethe was in the U.S. Navy dur- owners of Borgert Concrete, hobbies: making wooden bowls
Borgert • page 3
ing the Korean War in the early
1950s.
Now he gets to go there
again as a member of an “Honor
Flight,” a program that flies veterans to Washington, D.C. to
allow them to tour the capital
and to see the monuments there
that honor all the nation’s veterans. Borgert will leave April 22
on a flight with about 100 other
veterans from the central Minnesota area. They’ll take a direct
chartered flight from St. Cloud
to a Maryland airport, then take
a bus into Washington, D.C. He
will be accompanied by one of
his sons.
Nearly 70 years ago, Borgert,
now 82, served mainly on the
Atlantic Ocean on the U.S.S.
Newport News, a heavy cruiser.
contributed photo
As a machinist mate, he repaired
New traffic signal lights at the intersection of CR 2, 3 and Highway 75 were activated last
engines, air-conditioning units,
week. The intersection has been the site of several crashes.
airplane cranes and even ice
Traffic lights activated at CR 2, 3 on Hwy. 75
www.thenewsleaders.com
2
People
St. Joseph Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com
Rural Stearns Faith in Action receives Older American Act funding
Rural Stearns Faith in Action
recently received funding through
the Central Minnesota Council on
Aging as a part of the Older American Act. The Older Americans
Act of 1965 was the first federal
level initiative aimed at providing
comprehensive services for older
adults. It provides funding to render services to adults 60 and older
for nutrition, supportive home and
community-based services, disease prevention/health promotion
services, elder rights programs
and caregiver support services.
“This funding is so important
toward helping us continue our
mission of facilitating a neighborhelping-neighbor approach toward
caring in our rural Stearns County
communities,” said Lindsey Sand,
Rural Stearns Faith in Action program coordinator. “Daily we are
connected with seniors in our area
who are in need of support to remain in their homes. We will continue to work to connect them with
supportive and trustworthy volunteers within their own community
to provide them with transportation, homemaking, chore services
and even respite care for caregivers. We will also continue to provide our staff-rendered services
including caregiver consultation
and caregiver education sessions.”
If you or someone you care for
would benefit from support within
their home, or you would like to
donate some time to a neighbor in
need, contact the organzization at
320-685-3693 or 1-800-549-5855.
Friday, April 18, 2014
Kennedy future problem-solvers
place at state meet
by Cori Hilsgen
news@thenewsleaders.com
A Kennedy Community
School eighth-grade futureproblem-solving team placed
third in its oral presentation
at the state meet March 29 at
Centennial Middle School in
Lino Lakes.
Seventh- and eighth-grade
future problem-solvers at Kennedy had three teams who
competed at the meet.
Students prepared for the
competition by researching and
brainstorming challenges and
solutions to solve problems related to the topic of “Land
Transportation.” They competed in both written and oral
presentation competition.
Coached by Michaelene Lucia, the students began practicing for the competition in
October. Practices involved
researching and discussing
a current topic and listening
to speakers who came to the
school to discuss the topic.
Lucia said the Future Problem-Solving program offers students a chance to solve global
futuristic problems in creative
ways. Students are given topics such as “Land Transportation,” “Surveillance Society” or
“Ocean Soup.”
At competition, the students
are given a future scene description with a problem relating to the topic. Nobody knows
what the exact scenario will be
until the competition, not even
the coaches. Students use a sixstep problem-solving process to
brainstorm and find their best
solution for solving the scenario. They have two hours to
complete the six-step process.
“Students learn to use this
process to solve problems,” Lucia said. “Not just for futuristic problems, but all problems
they have and will encounter
in life.”
Before going to the state
meet, students competed at
the district and regional meets,
which were held at St. Cloud
State University.
All seventh- and eighthgraders are able to participate
in the Future Problem Solving
program. Sixth-grade students
are introduced to the problem-solving process in Lucia’s
language-arts classes. It’s an
extracurricular activity held after school.
This year Lucia had 18 students who competed in the
program.
For photos of the teams, visit
www.thenewsleaders.com.
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Publisher/Owner
Janelle Von Pinnon
Contributing Writer
Cori Hilsgen
Editor
Dennis Dalman
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P.O. Box 324 • 32 1st Ave. N.W. • St. Joseph, Minn. 56374
Phone (320) 363-7741 • Fax (320) 363-4195 • E-mail address: news@thenewsleaders.com
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ST. JOSEPH NEWSLEADER, P.O. Box 324, St. Joseph, MN 56374.
St. Joseph Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com
Friday, April 18, 2014
People can sign petition at Sal’s Bar
by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
The St. Joseph Newsleader
has received calls about how
and where to sign a petition
asking the city to place the
question of constructing a government center on the Nov. 20
ballot.
There are copies of the petition that can be signed at Sal’s
Bar and Grill on main street in
St. Joseph. People can also call
Irene Reber, at 320-363-7585, or
they can sign the petition at her
home at 118 2nd Ave. SE.
Reber, who initiated the petition, has been going doorto-door in the city with the
petition. Quite a few people
were not at home at the time
she was circulating the petition, she noted. Several other
St. Joseph residents have also
been carrying copies of it for
people to sign. The residents
circulating the petition include
Mike McDonald, Bob Lyon and
Ellen Wahlstrom.
“I have 527 signatures so
far,” Reber said. “Only five people have declined to sign it
when I went door-to-door. I
plan to keep knocking on more
doors this week. Two council
members said we’d need 600
or more signatures. We have
enough signatures, but we’ve
got to keep this thing going.”
Opponents of the government-center project want a referendum on the Nov. 20, 2014
ballot.
Here is what the petition
states:
“As a resident of the City of
St. Joseph, Minn., I support
a referendum to be held regarding construction of a new
city building and that it be put
on the Nov. 20, 2014 ballot.
Also let it be noted any and
all spending on this building
project be halted until after the
results of the referendum be
known.”
The St. Joseph City Council has plans to construct a
$4.5-million government center
to replace the current city hall/
police building. It would include a community room that
could sit up to 170 people.
contributed photo
Opponents basically claim a Gene Borgert in a photo taken aboard his ship circa 1951 dur“community room” is just an ing the Korean War. The ship was the U.S.S. Newport News.
excuse to build a center and
The Borgerts have four chilresidents do not need another
dren: Scott of Memphis, Tenn.,
community room but, rather, a
who just retired after 22 years in
community center. The current
the U.S. Navy; Tim, who works
city hall building, some oppo- from front page
at Ferche Millwork in Rice; Denents claim, can be fixed.
nise Stang, who lives near her
ing,” he said.
Borgert’s wife, Lynn, was a parents and who is a housestay-at-home mom for many wife and a ceramics artist who
teaches that art at the St. Cloud
considered. The system would years, although she did some
Whitney Senior Center; and Pam
part-time
work,
including
a
job
warn drivers of crossing traffic.
McMahon, who has a job pickat
the
old
Commodore
Club
in
MnDOT is installing these sysing up and driving medical tests
Sartell.
Now
she
works
at
the
tems throughout the state, and
from and to hospitals all over
Door
E
Information
Desk
at
the
the county is working to see if
the state.
St.
Cloud
Hospital,
a
job
she
the system could be included in
The Borgerts have a dozen
loves.
the contract.
“She’s a dandy,” Borgert said. grandchildren and 29 greatgrandchildren.
“Loves to meet people.”
Crash injures one man, closes roads
by Cori Hilsgen
news@thenewsleaders
29, was hauling propane tanks
that fell off the trailer. Initial reports indicated possible
A crash between a pickup leaking propane tanks, but no
and semitrailer injured one leaks were found. Bechtold
man and closed parts of two said roads were closed until
area roads April 2. The crash mid-afternoon.
occurred in the morning at the
Several other crashes have
intersection of Stearns CR 2 and occurred at this same location.
Minnesota Street W.
A fatal collision in November
The driver of the pickup, killed a 90-year-old woman
Lee Meyer of Rice, 48, was from Cold Spring.
injured and was transported to
County engineer Jodi Teich
the St. Cloud Hospital. Accord- said a rural intersection coning to Stearns County Chief flict warning system is being
Deputy Bruce Bechtold, Meyer
was turning south on CR 2
when his pickup was hit by the
semitrailer.
The semitrailer, driven by
in St. Joseph, Minn.
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St. Joseph Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com
Friday, April 18, 2014
Sorrel named Volunteer of the Year
by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
Even a quick reading of the resume of Sartell Senior Volunteer of
the Year Jan Sorrel is apt to exhaust
the average person because she has
crammed so much work into a lifecontributed photo
In 1987, Jan Sorrel was named
Teacher of the Year for the St.
Cloud School District. Sorrel
was recently named Retired Volunteer of the Year by the Sartell
Area Chamber of Commerce.
time that it makes one’s head spin.
Sorrel, who was once a teacher
at Kennedy Elementary School in
St. Joseph, has influenced schools
throughout the St. Cloud School
District because of her pioneering efforts in computer education
and new media and information
deliveries.
Sorrel has been wife, mother,
motel owner, school teacher, yearbook director, photographer, editor,
school-media teacher, computer instructor, the member and/or chair
of countless committees and organizations, spelling-bee judge, workshop facilitator, curriculum developer, published writer, speechmaker and active member of more
than 10 professional organizations.
Those activities barely scratch the
surface.
Most people in Sartell know Sorrel as one of the founding members
of the Sartell Senior Connection, a
group of mainly seniors that has
brought a renewed dynamism to
Sartell through its activities and
its volunteerism. The group was
founded in 2007, and Sorrel has
just now finished her fourth year as
the group’s board chair.
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when she was named Sartell Senior
Volunteer of the Year April 10 at
the annual Sartell Area Chamber of
Commerce banquet at Blackberry
Ridge Golf Course.
Despite some recent medical
problems, including another knee
replacement, Sorrel is up and at
‘em, just as active as ever. She
doesn’t need a cane or a walker
anymore. Her husband, Dale, loves
to tease her by telling others, in
front of her, that “Jan is off her
walker.”
Sorrel said her favorite activity
is working with committees, brainstorming with others until good
ideas emerge from the simmering
conversations.
“I love committees,” she said.
“I love to get ideas together and let
ideas come forth from others. That
committee work is really what I do
best.”
Early life
Sorrel was born in Richfield.
Even in her school years she loved
working with groups of students.
She was a member of the yearbook
and newspaper staff, and she was
student-council president.
After graduation in 1956 and
marriage, she earned a degree
in elementary education, with a
math minor, from the University of
Minnesota, Twin Cities. Then she
taught third grade in Hopkins for
two years.
She and her husband, Dale, one
day made a bold decision. They
decided in 1961 to move to Sartell
where there was a motel for sale.
The Winter Haven Motel, which
they owned and managed for eight
years. Before buying it they did a lot
of research in motel ownership. The
business would thrive, they were
told, because it’s on Highway 10,
a very busy roadway, especially in
the summer.
The Sorrels and their ninemonth-old son, Jeff, moved to Sartell Jan. 1, 1962. At that time, there
were not even 1,000 people living
in the city. Near the Sorrel’s 11unit motel, which was located just
south of the now defunct Benton
Drive Mini Serve convenience gasand-grocery, were the Commodore
Club and the Vee Bar. Besides his
motel management, Dale was also
a ceramic-tile installer, and he and
Jan operated their business at first
from the motel and later from the
home they bought just north of
what is now Val Smith Park.
“Running a small motel was
always a dream of Dale’s,” Sorrel
said. “We owned that motel for
eight years, and lived in it for four
years. We had a lot of summer tourists passing through, many from
the Chicago area. We had so much
fun with visitors, especially in the
summer months. One year, the first
year, a lot off them were passing
through on their way to the World’s
Fair in Seattle.”
Eventually, the very busy Highway 10 right by the Winter Haven
St. Joe’s Best Kept Secret
St. Joseph Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com
Friday, April 18, 2014
Hotel was moved, and the roadway
became Benton Drive, diminishing
the Sorrel’s motel business. By that
time, Dale wanted to concentrate on
his tile and construction business,
and Jan, once again, had developed
a hankering to teach again. In time,
Dale joined Miller Construction,
and Jan returned to teaching – one
year of fourth-grade in St. Cloud’s
Central School (now the city-hall
building). Pregnant and with a child
at home, she decided to become a
stay-at-home mom for a time.
Later, she was asked to help
teach fourth grade in Sartell, which
she did, as well as teaching fifth
grade off-and-on for nearly four
years.
Media
In the late 1960s, Sorrel had become intensely interested in media
and information systems.
She earned a master’s degree in
information media from St. Cloud
State University, then she found
work in 1972 as a media specialist
at South Junior High School in St.
Cloud.
“I thought I’d died and gone to
heaven,” she said. “I actually almost felt guilty to take a paycheck
because I loved it so much. I didn’t
know whether to attribute my love
of that job to the hand of God or
just dumb luck.”
In 1978, Sorrel was asked to
transfer to Tech High School to become its media specialist (the new
name then for librarian). There, she
transformed what had been an old
gymnasium into a media center.
Sorrel worked at Tech High
School three times during the 1970s
and 1980s. Staff cuts during recessionary times took their toll on
Sorrel and other school staff. Still,
Sorrel managed to find teaching
work between times. She taught
fourth grade at Kennedy Elementary School and second grade at
South Junior High School (for a
few years that junior high school
had become an elementary school).
By then, a new job had opened
in the school district. It needed a
“resources facilities coordinator for
academic achievement,” and Sorrel
got the job, working half her time
at Tech, the other half at Apollo
High School. She instructed other
teachers about innovative ways to
teach bright students. After nearly
five years of that job, she returned
full-time to Tech and stayed there
for nearly 16 years, some of the
happiest years of her life.
Computers
During her time at South Junior
High School, circa 1972, Sorrel was
introduced to a then little-known
world of computers. She became a
member of the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium.
There was a huge computer
main-frame at the University of
Minnesota. Sorrel and just a handful of other computer-savvy people
could access that main frame by dialing to St. Cloud State University,
then putting the phone in a modem
and getting a connection to the U
of M main frame via a teletype system. It was a very arcane, mysterious brave new world – the world of
computers.
What then to computer “geeks”
seemed like the cat’s meow is now,
in retrospect, in this Cyber Age, a
clunky, awkward, roundabout way
of doing things. Sorrel, however,
found it very fascinating, and she
began to teach teachers and students how to use computers about
the time that tremendous innovation, the “Apple” came along.
Senior Connection
All of her lifetime talents and
skills came to fruition with her
work for the Sartell Senior Connec-
tion. It’s little wonder that fellow
board members wanted her to be
chair for four consecutive years.
And, once again, her genius for
committee work paid off, with new
ideas brewing all the time for new
Senior Connection activities or improvements of old ones.
“We have such a dynamic group
of people,” she said. “It’s one of
the most vibrant groups I’ve ever
worked with. They’re coming up
with new ideas all the time. We
like to analyze why things work,
why they don’t work. We’re always
tweaking things.”
Sorrel is proud to be a member
of the Senior Connection because
she firmly believes it’s an asset
to the Sartell area in more ways
than one. Seniors, she said, tend
to become withdrawn the longer
they age – an outcome that can
be unhealthy and even dangerous.
By keeping seniors connected and
active socially and intellectually,
they become more motivated and
happier. That can result in fewer
medical problems, fewer bills, a
healthier society all around.
And, not to forget, a big reason
for the Senior Connection is all the
play, the fun and the laughter that
keeps Sorrel and so many others
feeling as if they’ve happily reached
their prime.
Family
Dale and Jan Sorrel have three
children – Jeff, 53, a retired Air
Force man now working as a computer expert at a Minneapolis bank;
Greg, 49, who works for an officesupply company in Alexandria and
who lives in Sauk Centre; and
Jill Maselter, a mother who homeschools her children and who lives
just three blocks from her parents
in Sartell.
The Sorrels have 10 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
5
contributed photo
Jan Sorrel (standing) helps teachers learn computer skills circa 1978
at Tech High School in St. Cloud. Sorrel was recently named Retired
Volunteer of the Year by the Sartell Area Chamber of Commerce.
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LET’S TALK...
Please join me for my next Town Hall meeting.
Mayor Rick Schultz
Saturday, April 26 • 9-10 a.m.
St. Joseph Fire Hall
Quality Steel fabrication job shop has openings at
323 4th Ave. N.E. • St. Joseph
Sauk Centre and Alexandria Locations:
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Join us for Easter Worship!
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Good Friday, April 18
Welders Needed!
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6:30 p.m.
6:30 p.m.
Easter Sunday, April 20
8, 9:30 & 11 a.m.
Easter Breakfast served 8:30-11 a.m.
Resurrection Lutheran Church
610 N. Co. Rd. 2 • St. Joseph • 320-363-4232
www.rlcstjoe.com
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1131 W. Sinclair Lewis Ave.
Sauk Centre, MN 56378
320-352-6525
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Alexandria, MN 56308
320-763-6964
Or apply online at: www.std-iron.com EOE
St. Joseph Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com
6
Friday, April 18, 2014
Opinion
Our View
Letters to editor
Hanging-basket project epitomizes small-town feel
Three cheers
for wage increases
Carole Theisen, St. Joseph
Thank goodness for Gov. Mark Dayton and the Democrats who control both houses in the Minnesota Legislature. On April 14, Dayton signed into law a somewhat
watered-down version of a bill previously approved by the
House. Last week, the Senate, on a 39-28 vote, approved
its version.
Thanks to Dayton and those lawmakers, there will be
increases in the state’s minimum wage, something the Republicans in the U.S. Congress refuse to do, even though
national polls show up to 80 percent of all people, including many Republican voters, approve a hefty increase in
the national minimum wage.
In our state, it should be noted no Republicans voted
for the increase. Isn’t it ironic those are the same politicians who claim they represent “working folks?”
Opponents of the raise trotted out the same tired arguments: too much too soon, a job-killer, companies will
flee the state.
Minnesota is the latest of several states that have upped
the minimum wage, largely because of the stubborn and
baseless inaction in the nation’s Capitol.
In Minnesota, larger employers will have to pay $8 an
hour in August and $9.50 in 2016. Smaller employers will
pay less than that – $7.75 by 2016. Included in the bill is
an inflation provision that would boost the minimum wage
by 2.6 percent per year starting in 2018.
All reasonable people have long agreed minimum
wage is simply not enough to live on. The following
sentence has become practically a mantra: “Any person
who works 40 hours per week should not have to live in
poverty.” And that, of course, is true. It doesn’t matter if
minimum-wage employees are heads of households, single
mothers or teenagers. All people, no matter who they are,
deserve a fair and livable wage. That should go without
saying.
One could argue $9.50 is not enough – not nearly
enough. If one factors in inflation, the minimum wage has
shrunk in buying power in the last 30 years – so much so
that if today’s minimum wage would match that of the late
1970s, it would have to be closer to $15 an hour rather
than $9.50 an hour.
Nevertheless, thanks to progressive legislators and
forward-looking lawmakers, Minnesota has taken an important step in trying to alleviate these inexcusable inequities. It has become painfully obvious a “free economy”
and “market forces” are not going to redress these and
other grievances caused by a massively lopsided economic
gap in which the top 1 percent take in and control most of
the money generated in this country.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. There is a
push by the Obama Administration and others to raise that
to $10.10 an hour.
Until this past week’s legislative action, Minnesota
had one of the lowest minimum-wage rates in the nation:
$6.15.
The forces of progressivism have won the day in Minnesota. There is so much more progress to be made on the
state level and the national level. But raising the minimum
wage here and in other states is definitely a step in the right
direction, with the ultimate goal of bringing living wages
and dignity to all jobs for all working people.
Fairness and ethics
Newsleader staff members have the responsibility to report news fairly and accurately and
are accountable to the public. Readers who feel
we’ve fallen short of these standards are urged
to call the Newsleader office at 363-7741.
If matters cannot be resolved locally, readers
are encouraged to take complaints to the Minnesota News Council, an independent agency
designed to improve relationships between the
public and the media and resolve conflicts. The
council office may be reached at 612-341-9357.
I love the town of St. Joseph!
We moved here when my Dad got
a job at St. Ben’s and I was in eighth
grade. I could not believe how special
I felt and how everyone was so kind
to me and my family. I love small
towns! I love that we know just about
everyone. I love walking over at St.
Ben’s where I worked and went to
school. This town just has so much
character. I love what the town did
with the benches and flower beds and
the cool street lights. The Wobegon
trail just really adds to this feeling.
Because there is so much pride in the
town of St. Joseph, it is the reason I
was so excited to start the St. Joseph
Hanging Basket Project. My Husband
Jim and I had often gone to Red
Wing, Minn. and so loved the hanging baskets on all the streets. Every
year we would go down there to get
the directions to put the baskets together for our yard. The people in Red
Wing were fantastic to work with.
Every year they give all the customers
either the choice of buying a basket
or gave us the directions on how they
did theirs for that year.
I had asked them if any of the other towns around there did this. I had
seen many towns do flowers but none
were as pretty as Red Wing. They did
say many towns had tried it but were
not successful for some reason or another. This is when I got the idea to
try to do it in St. Joseph. Red Wing’s
City, and Sargent’s Nursery Inc. were
so supportive and gave us a lot of info
to start our first year. We had a few issues so when we decided to add more
the second year we actually made an
appointment with the Nursery and
the City of Red Wing. They reminded
me of St. Joseph people. They worked
with us more than four hours, went
through all the different steps they
take and let us take pictures of there
equipment to duplicate here in St.
Joseph. Wow, they did not have to
do that.
Our second year went better then
the first and now we think we have
it figured out for our third year to be
even better. My dream and our goal is
for them to bloom from May until the
end of September and to have each
light post downtown be covered.
We could not have done this without so many people! Each year we do
a “Thank You” in this paper for those
who donated but that is just the tip of
the iceberg. The City of St. Joseph especially the maintenance department
has worked so hard to come up with
watering devices and a way to get
these watered almost every day. This
project would not have taken place
without the St. Joseph Action Group
or the Chamber, EDA, the Y2K Lions
and many more. What great support
we have in this town! I cannot tell
you how many people from the St.
Cloud area came to one of our great
businesses in St. Joseph and wanted
to know where these flowers came
from and how we planted them. We
have been approached by the Lake
George area who is also looking at
this project.
I always ask the callers why they
were in St. Joseph. Most of the time
it was to visit our local businesses or
to attend the Fourth of July parade.
The best day was when a couple of
callers said they came to see the flowers, then decided to stop at the St.
Joseph Meat Market as long as they
were here and then stopped for lunch
at Bello’s!
I would love for this to be the reason people come to St. Joseph who
have never been here before. We have
such great small businesses in St. Joseph. We have so much to offer!
Lastly, I want to especially thank
Margy Hughes. I cannot tell you how
much she did to get this project going!
In May, we will go out and collect
for this year’s 80 Baskets to complete
the downtown project. The baskets
are $150 per basket; a half-basket
$75 and other (any amount). Many
of these baskets are in memory of a
loved one and will be published in
the paper in September. Flyers will be
out in April.
If interested, call Carol Theisen at
320-363-8496, 320-249-7676 or email
me at cmtjat17@gmail.com. You can
also call Joyce Faber at 320-363-7682.
Baskets will be put up right before
Memorial Day.
I think we will especially enjoy
these flowers this year after this crazy
winter!
Council is misleading, using voodoo economics
Mike McDonald, St. Joseph
Misguided priorities
St. Joseph does not need another
community room. The community
room at the fire hall has an 80-percent
vacancy rate. The community room
at the Wobegon building is vacant at
least 95 percent of available time. A
church in St. Joseph recently completed another community room.
St. Joseph citizens do not want
another community room. The salestax vote was for a Community Center.
Two open forums were held to discuss the proposed building. Citizens
at the “listening session” in March
2013 and the recent session at the fire
hall overwhelmingly voiced opinions
that a mere community room was not
wanted. Are city leaders surprised
citizens object to spending a million
sales-tax dollars on something that
has no recreational/social/educational/exercise programming to it?
If leaders are referring to a survey
done in 2008 for their theory citizens
want a community room, they are
missing the context of the survey.
That survey was related to investigating the use of sales-tax funds to purchase the former Kennedy School for
use as a Community Center. In that
context, local fraternal and charitable
organizations thought they might be
able to claim one of the numerous
small classrooms for their own. If
council members study that survey,
they would see the vast majority of
the 500-plus responders thought a
community center should not be part
of an administration/police building.
I know of no other surveys that ask
for a community room, yet coun-
cil members use that as a pretext
to spend millions on a government
center.
The city claims the current building is in “shoddy” condition. The
architect hired by the city for the project stated the present building was
“sound.” Why do council members
view it differently? Yes, the current
building needs the same maintenance
and repair as any building its age.
Perhaps if leaders used the $200,000
maintenance/repair funds bonded for
in 2011 for its intended purpose, the
building would be in better shape. A
new government center was never in
the city’s five-year capital-improvement plan until late in 2013, and the
line item never went through the normal budget process to be included.
Voodoo economics
Council members are not telling
the whole story with the example
showing the first six-year period will
cost an owner of a $150,000 home
only $76 ($12 per year). They are not
telling citizens that property taxes
related to the present building should
be going down after 2015 because
the current bond will be fully paid.
Instead, council members plan to
continue to collect taxes for the new
building. They are using the first sixyear period as an example because
property taxes won’t be levied the
first three years. According to bond
documents, the 2014 payment would
be made with unspent money from
the 2011 roof/HVAC repairs bond.
The 2015 and 2016 payments would
be paid from sales-tax funds. Our
property tax levy would not go up
until 2017 (first three-year funds are
already out of our pockets). Presenting financial information in this manner is knowingly deceptive and brings
up questions of trust between citizens
and city leaders.
Each council person should be
able to calculate the true cost of the
proposed bond and the impact. The
cost (including interest) of the proposed bond is $6,234,000. The city
plans to use tax levies for $5,560,000.
Compiling the real cost of this bond
is simple. Per the bond presentation
(dated 2-19-14), the average amount
the city must levy over the 20-year
period is $278,000 per year. For each
increase of $32,200 of expenditures,
our city levy increases 1 percent. If
you divide $278,000 by $32,200 you
see that, on average, our levy will
increase 8.63 percent annually related to this bond. Apply that to your
home’s mill rate (each increment of
$100,000 value of your home) and the
real impact on a $150,000 home is far
different than the $12 the city is trying to portray (multiply the 8.63-percent increase by 15 to arrive at a true
average increase of $129.50).
If council members believe citizens
want to spend money on a new government center, they should have no
problem putting the question on the
November ballot. The council has
spent funds to obtain information
related to an approximately $500,000
project to move power poles one-half
a block in order for that question to
be placed on the November ballot.
If they believe that question belongs
on the ballot, they should not force
citizens to obtain signatures to put
the far more expensive project there
as well.
Friday, April 18, 2014
Community Calendar
Friday, April 18
Fish Fry, 5-8 p.m., St. Joseph Lions fundraiser, El Paso
Sports Bar and Grill, 200 2nd
Ave. NW, St. Joseph.
St. Cloud Singles Club
Dance, 8:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.,
all singles welcome, American
Legion, 17 2nd Ave. N., Waite
Park. 320-217-8779 or www.
stcloudsingles.net.
Monday, April 21
Blood drive, noon-6 p.m.,
American Red Cross, 1301
W. St. Germain St., St. Cloud.
1-800-733-2767.
St. Joseph Rod and Gun
Club meeting, 7 p.m., American Legion in St. Joseph.
Tuesday, April 22
Blood drive, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.,
American Red Cross, 1301
W. St. Germain St., St. Cloud.
1-800-733-2767.
“Drafting Your Financial
Blueprint,” part of a financial
fitness workshop series, 6-7
p.m., Room 208, Great River
Regional Libraray, 12th Avenue and St. Germain St. W., St.
Cloud.
Thursday, April 24
Coffee and Conversation, a
senior discussion group, 9 a.m.,
Country Manor, Sartell.
Blood drive, noon-6 p.m.,
American Red Cross, 1301
W. St. Germain St., St. Cloud.
1-800-733-2767.
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St. Joseph Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com
LEGAL NOTICES
Friday, April 25
Blood drive, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.,
American Red Cross, 1301
W. St. Germain St., St. Cloud.
1-800-733-2767.
Brat Sale, sponsored by St.
Joseph Y2K Lions, 9 a.m.-5
p.m., St. Joseph Meat Market,
St. Joseph. All tips and portion of profit donated to the
American Diabetes Association
Needlepoint. Old glasses, hearing aids and cell phones will be
collected.
Saturday, April 26
Rose Education Day, 8:1511:45 a.m., Whitney Senior
Center, 1527 Northway Drive,
St. Cloud. Registration required.
320-255-6169.
Brat Sale, sponsored by St.
Joseph Y2K Lions, 9 a.m.-4
p.m., at the St. Joseph Meat
Market, St. Joseph. All tips and
portion of profit donated to the
American Diabetes Association
Needlepoint. Old glasses, hearing aids and cell phones will be
collected.
Vendor Expo, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
American Cancer Society Relay
for Life fundraiser, American
Legion, 101 Minnesota St. W.,
St. Joseph. 320-293-6636.
Sunday, April 27
“God’s Home Among Us,”
2-4 p.m., exhibit opening celebrates the 100-year story of
the Sacred Heart Chapel, Haehn
Museum, St. Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph. 320-363-7098.
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HEALTH
7
CITY OF ST. JOSEPH PUBLIC HEARING
PROPOSED ASSESSMENT – PARK TERRACE IMPROVEMENTS
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
Notice is hereby given that the
council will meet at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 1, 2014, at the St.
Joseph City Hall, 25 College Ave.
N. to consider, and possibly adopt,
the proposed assessment for the
2014 Park Terrace improvement
which affects the following areas:
along the north side of Minnesota
Street (CSAH 2) between a point
400 feet west of 4th Avenue NW
and 3rd Avenue NW, along 4th Avenue NW between Minnesota Street
W (CSAH 2) and Birch Street W,
along 5th Avenue NW between 4th
Avenue NW, and a point 200 feet
north of Birch Street W, along Ash
Street W between 5th Avenue NW
and 2nd Avenue NW, and along
Old Highway 52 between Birch
Street W and a point 200 feet NW
of Birch Street W.
Adoption by the council of the
proposed assessment may occur at the hearing. The area listed
above is proposed to be assessed.
The proposed assessment is proposed to be payable in equal annual installments extending over a
period of 15 years, the first of the
installments to be payable on or
before the first Monday in January 2015, and will bear interest at
the rate of 5.5 percent per annum
from the date of the adoption of the
assessment resolution. To the first
installment shall be added interest
on the entire assessment from the
date of the assessment resolution
until Dec. 31, 2014. To each subsequent installment when due shall
be added interest for one year on all
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unpaid installments.
You may at any time prior to certification of the assessment to the
county auditor, pay the entire assessment on such property, with
interest accrued to the date of payment, to the City of St. Joseph.
No interest shall be charged if the
entire assessment is paid within
30 days from the adoption of this
assessment. You may at any time
thereafter, pay to the City of St.
Joseph the entire amount of the assessment remaining unpaid, with
interest accrued to Dec. 31 of the
year in which such payment is
made. Such payment must be made
before Nov. 15 or interest will be
charged through Dec. 31 of the succeeding year. If you decide not to
prepay the assessment before the
date given above the rate of interest that will apply is 5.5 percent
per year. You have the right to partially prepay the assessment with
any balance being certified to the
County Auditor for collection under the terms described above.
The proposed assessment roll is
on file for public inspection at the
city clerk’s office. The total amount
of the proposed assessment is
$461,974.34. Written or oral objections will be considered at the
meeting. No appeal to district court
may be taken as to the amount of an
assessment unless a written objection signed by the affected property
owner is filed with the municipal
clerk prior to the assessment hearing or presented to the presiding
officer at the hearing. The council
may upon such notice consider any
objection to the amount of a pro-
posed individual assessment at an
adjourned meeting upon such further notice to the affected property
owners as it deems advisable.
Under Minn. Stat. §§ 435.193 to
435.195 and city Ordinance No.
38, the council may, in its discretion, defer the payment of this
special assessment for any homestead property owned by a person
65 years of age or older or retired
by virtue of a permanent and total
disability for whom it would be a
hardship to make the payments.
When deferment of the special assessment has been granted and is
terminated for any reason provided
in that law and Ordinance (Resolution), all amounts accumulated plus
applicable interest become due.
Any assessed property owner meeting the requirements of this law
and Ordinance No. 38, may, within
30 days of the confirmation of the
assessment, apply to the city clerk
for the prescribed form for such
deferral of payment of this special
assessment on his/her property.
An owner may appeal an assessment to district court pursuant to
Minn. Stat. § 429.081 by serving
notice of the appeal upon the mayor
or clerk of the city within 30 days
after the adoption of the assessment
and filing such notice with the district court within 10 days after service upon the mayor or clerk.
Judy Weyrens
Administrator
Publish: April 11 and 18, 2014
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
ON ESTABLISHMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
DISTRICT NO. 3
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN TOWNSITE OF ST. JOSEPH;
the Board of Commissioners (the Lots 4 and 5 S 2/3 of Lot 6; and
“Board”) of the Economic Devel- Lot 006 Block 009 of TOWNSITE
opment Authority (the “EDA”) OF ST. JOSEPH; N 1/3 of Lot 006
of the City of St. Joseph, and the Block 009.
City Council (the “Council”) of
the City of St. Joseph (the “City”), All interested persons may appear
Stearns County, Minn., will hold at the hearing and present their
a joint public hearing at 6 p.m. view orally or in writing.
Thursday, May 1, 2014 at the St.
Joseph City Hall, 25 College Ave. Dated: April 3, 2014
N., in the City, relating to the proposed establishment of Economic BY ORDER OF THE BOARD
Development District No. 1, pur- OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE
suant to Minnesota Statutes, Sec- ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
tion 469.090 through 469.1082, AUTHORITY AND ST. JOSPEH
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
inclusive, as amended.
OF ST. JOSEPH, MINN.
The property proposed to be included in Economic Develop- Judy Weyrens, Administrator
ment District No. 1 is described
as follows: Lot 004 Block 009 of Publish: April 18, 2014
Brinkman to discuss local history
by Cori Hilsgen
news@thenewsleader.com
Marilyn Salzl Brinkman, a
local author and historian, will
share stories and other information about people and events of
local history from 9-10:30 a.m.
Friday, April 25 at the Church
of St. Joseph Heritage Hall.
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Brinkman grew up in a large
family on a farm in central
Minnesota. Her recent book
Aprons, Flower Sacks and Other
Folk Histories is a collection
of articles about the history of
central Minnesota.
There is no charge for the
event.
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St. Joseph Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com
8
Friday, April 18, 2014
earth day
2014
contributed photo
Cole Stroot (center) helps a student place paper in the organics
recycling while Mason Motschke (right) reminds students not
to dump their food into the waste bin for a new organic recycling program at Kennedy.
Recycling
pound,” Wilson said. “Our goal
is to reduce the number of times
the waste is hauled.”
He said they will continue to
try to improve the program.
“We will continue to revise
and get better,” Wilson said.
“We will continue to help young
people understand what we are
doing and why we are doing
it to help them become better
global citizens. We need people
who are able to take care of our
world because it’s the only one
we have.”
Wilson also wants to encourage all local businesses that are
currently throwing away a large
amount of food waste and paper
to look into organic recycling.
“The more people on board,
the better it will be for everyone
involved,” Wilson said.
from front page
(it) could make a huge difference,” Wilson said.
After the first week, students
were recycling five yards of organic material that would have
gone into a landfill each week.
Students are filling about three
to four 64-gallon containers
daily. That is equal to about one
yard of waste each day.
Kennedy has two 8-yard
dumpsters that get picked up
twice each week.
Wilson said the St. Cloud
School district pays 27-percent
tax on trash and no taxes on
recycled materials.
“We pay per load, not per
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in for your
Easter treats!
White or Wheat Dinner Rolls
1 doz. ONLY
1
$ 99
Easter Sugar Bunny and Egg
Cookies
1 doz. ONLY
3
$ 99
Offer valid Good Friday
and Saturday,
April 18 & 19 only.
Pick up also available at Cold Spring Bakery Connection.
103 2nd St. S. in Waite Park. 320-253-1423
320-685-8681
308 Main St. • Cold Spring
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Earth Day is a time to celebrate
gains we have made and
create new visions to accelerate
environmental progress. It is a time
to unite around new actions.
Earth Day and every day is a
time to act to protect our planet.